Tony Geiss
Tony Geiss (November 16, 1924 - January 21, 2011) was a staff writer and songwriter for Sesame Street and related productions, often teamed with Judy Freudberg. Geiss conceptualized the Honkers (based on his own childhood habit of honking his nose)Children's Television Workshop. Biographical Sketches. 1983 and Abby Cadabby.Susan Dominus, "A Girly-Girl Joins the 'Sesame' Boys", The New York Times, 6 August 2006. Geiss' early TV career was spent in London scripting The David Frost Show, and first joined Children's Television Workshop as a writer on the health series Feelin' Good. He also scripted television specials and revues for the likes of Dick Cavett and Bill Cosby. In the 1980s, after scripting Follow That Bird as his cinematic debut, Geiss and Freudberg co-wrote the Don Bluth animated features An American Tail and The Land Before Time. He was also credited as head writer for several Sesame Street home videos. Geiss' father Anthony Geiss was a painter and an animator, while mother Marjorie Thirer was a press agent. Geiss grew up in Greenwich Village, spending two years as a radar technician for the US Navy, before attending Cornell University from 1943 to 1946. He began acting in theatre productions in his freshman year, and met his wife Phyllis Eisen on campus. Composer Credits Image:Song.alliwant.jpg|All I Want for Christmas Is You Image:Aloneinaswamp.jpg|Alone in a Swamp File:2486-08b.jpg|Alone Together AtTheBusStopSign.jpg|At the Bus Stop Sign File:Song.HeyBaby.jpg|Baby, You're So Smart Song.friends.jpg|Because We're Friends File:4193e.png|Being a Bear Image:1056a.jpg|Big Brass Band Image:Song.boogiepiggies.jpg|The Boogie-Woogie Piggies Briefhistory05.jpg|A Brief History of Motion Pictures image:Brokenandbeautiful.jpg|Broken and Beautiful Image:Song.brothersandsisters.jpg|Brothers and Sisters File:WindyMuppets.jpg|Caribbean Air File:3586d.jpg|Can't Help Lovin' That Moo of Mine File:3122b.jpg|Chirrup Image:BayouCountin.jpg|Counting Bayou Fives File:Song.CountryintheCity.jpg|Country in the City File:3578i.jpg|Dancin' Beak to Beak PrairieTyne.jpg|Different Image:1037m.jpg|Different People, Different Ways Image:3603BobZoe.jpg|Different Street Image:DiscoD.jpg|Disco D Image:DoSomething.jpg|Do Something File:3145l.jpg|Doing the Penguin Image:AfraidToTry.jpg|Don't Be Afraid to Try Image:Cookieangels.jpg|Don't Eat the Pictures Sesame-st-film-festival pdp.jpg|Don't Forget to Watch the Movie Image:DustingSong.jpg|The Dusting Song Image:EarthRainMud.jpg|Earth, Rain and Mud Image:8 balls of fur.JPG|Eight Balls of Fur File:Elephant-Stomp.jpg|Elephant Stomp Image:Elmo'sSong.jpg|Elmo's Song File:ElmoCanFly.jpg|Elmo Can Fly Image:DoingThisDance02.jpg|Everybody's Doin' This Dance Image:4109g.jpg|Everyone Needs a Friend BB.Snuffy.thinkingofsomeone.jpg|Exactly Like You Image:FindAHusband.jpg|Find-a-Husband Ball File:3214g.jpg|The First Chicken in Space Image:3150p.jpg|The First Time Image:3136w.jpg|Fixin' My Hair 4119zf.jpg|Food Song Image:Frogsoftheglen.jpg|The Frogs in the Glen Image:Song.frogyear.jpg|Frog of the Year 4137zh.jpg|Get Up! Get Out! Image:Cookiegingerbreadman.jpg|Gingerbread Man GiveYourFriendanEasterEggforChristmas.jpg|Give Your Friend an Easter Egg for Christmas GoinToKyoto.jpg|Going to Kyoto Image:GoodbyeLittleCookie.jpg|Goodbye, Little Cookie Image:Mrsun.jpg|Good Morning, Mister Sun Grandmassong.jpg|Grandmas Image:3845k.jpg|Great Big Beautiful World Image:CTW1976IloveTrashGrouchLullaby.jpg|The Grouch's Lullaby Image:Song.groverworksong.jpg|Grover Work Song File:4037_Helping_People.jpg|Helping People File:3217h.jpg|Holding Hands Journaljapan04.jpg|Homesick Image:HonkAroundtheClock.jpg|Honk Around the Clock Horse-Sense.jpg|Horse Sense Grovermarchingband.jpg|I Am Not Afraid Image:4173n.jpg|I Don't Wanna Be a Prince Image:Igottabeclean.jpg|I Gotta Be Clean 4072t.jpg|I Laugh When I'm Happy File:2951f.jpg|I Love Words (Geiss) Image:Sgrover.armor.jpg|I Want to Be Your Friend File:3980zg.jpg|I Want to Thank You for Being My Friends Image:Cloud02.jpg|If I Was a Cloud in the Sky Image:GoToTheBall.jpg|If Elmo Could Go to the Ball File:Song.ilalphabetto.jpg|Il Alphabetto File:2123gk.jpg|I'll Never Run Out of Love Image:ProudtoBeaCow.jpg|I'm Proud to Be a Cow File:2226k.jpg|I'm So Proud (You're My Baby) File:ImSquare.jpg|I'm Square File:3710d.jpg|Important Piece of String Image:3977e.jpg|It's All Right to Cry File:Lillian-Sting.jpg|It's Not How Big You Are BJMMOscar.jpg|Just the Way You Are (spoof lyrics) Image:Song.cleanpigeons.jpg|Keep the Park Clean for the Pigeons Image:Song.kidswithwings.jpg|Kids With Wings Image:Song.lambaba.jpg|Lambaba LetsGoTubbin.jpg|Let's Go Tubbin' Today Image:LetterofDayPageant2.jpg|Letter of the Day File:3531i.jpg|Like a Rolling Plant Imabiggirlnow.jpg|Little Sister is a Big Girl Now image:Motherandchildren.jpg|Mothers and Children Image:Song.furryshadow.jpg|My Furry Little Shadow Nearandfar2.JPG|Near Far Monsters Image:OneThingLeadstoAnother.jpg|One Thing Leads to Another 4140-trashtime.jpg|Oscar's Trashtime Band Image:Pastasong.jpg|Pasta File:SESAME STREET LIVE AMATEUR COVER.JPG‎|Pigeon Image:PigeonsonParade.jpg|Pigeons on Parade 2486-02c.jpg|Plan Ahead 1707g.jpg|Postcard Song File:1736q.jpg|Practice (Geiss) Image:ReachYourHand.jpg|Reach Your Hand Up High Image:BBZoe.ReadMe2.jpg|Read Me a Story Image:Grover again.JPG|Sing After Me Image:Folge2269-9.jpg‎|Sixteen Samba Image:Songfortwo.jpg|A Song for Two Image:Song-Of-Forgetful.jpg|Song of Forgetful Jones Image:Sully-LoveSong.jpg|Sully's Love Song (Yes) Image:SS-Surprise6.jpg|Surprise Image:3141y.jpg|Take Care of That Smile Image:Song.thatswhatfriendsarefor.jpg|That's What Friends Are For Image:Importantmeal.JPG|The Most Important Meal of the Day Image:Song.trashrainbow.jpg|There's a Big Heap of Trash at the End of the Rainbow Image:ThinkingOfU.jpg|Thinking of U 2495e.jpg|This Old Chair Image:ThreeSidesNow.jpg|Three Sides Now File:BestOfOscar.jpg|The Things I Love Image:Song.transpolka.jpg|The Transylvania Polka VegetableLion.jpg|Vegetable Lion File:PDarton.BusStopSign.jpg|Waitin' at the Bus Stop Sign for You Image:WalkinDownMyStreet.jpg|Walkin' Down My Street Image:3295g.jpg|Walking Proud Image:Song.WeAreAllMonsters.jpg|We Are All Monsters Image:WeCoulda.jpg|We Coulda File:3010k.jpg|We Love Your Nose Image:Song.whatagift.jpg|What a Gift Image:2257zb.jpg|When I Listen Image:ForgetfulJones--I'llNeverForget.jpg|Who Could Forget the Day That We Met Image:WonderfulMe.jpg|Wonderful Me Image:3640g.jpg|Worm Soliloquy BePatient.jpg|You Gotta Be Patient (To Be a Patient) image:Goingtobeastar.jpg|You're Gonna Be a Star 1575-06.jpg|You're My Friend Writing Credits *''Sesame Street'' *''Don't Eat the Pictures'' *''Follow That Bird'' *''Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting'' *''Sing-Along Earth Songs'' *''Elmo Saves Christmas'' *''The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street'' *''CinderElmo'' *''Elmo's World'' segments: Dinosaurs, Doctors, Ears, Fish, Jumping, Penguins, School, Skin, Weather, Wild Animals Books *''The Count Counts a Party'' *''Elmo Saves Christmas'' *''The Four Seasons'' *''Honk If You Like Honkers'' *''The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook'' *''The Sesame Street Treasury Volume 4'' *''The Songs of Sesame Street in Poems and Pictures'' *''Susan and Gordon Adopt a Baby'' *''Vegetable Soup'' Interviews The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation interviewed Geiss in 2004 for the Archive of American Television. The hour and a half interview was posted on YouTube in 2008. Sources External links * Joseph Berger, "Tony Geiss, 86, Writer for ‘Sesame Street,’ Dies", The New York Times, January 30, 2011. Category:Composers Category:Writers Category:Authors